My First Attempt at HDR Using the Trial Version of Photomatix Pro

12 years 7 months ago - 12 years 7 months ago #135617 by Joiemagic
Here is my first attempt at doing HDR using the PhotoMatix Pro software... Been reading about it, so I thought, OK, why not try it out. Did some bracketed shots off my terrace looking towards the sunset colors over Manhattan the other day... Thought this might be a perfect start point... I am including the original exposures as well as the merged shot... In the final, I did crop some of the excess dark sky at the top and cloned out one of the PhotoMatix watermarks in the sky. Didn't think the excess sky was needed....

Please let me know what you think.. (p.s. I was using my "Ghetto Tripod" to shoot thes shots...)

Original Bracketed Shots...







The Final Merged, Edited and Cropped Shot...



As I said, comments and critiques welcomed...

Joie Fadde
Fadde Photography / Sports Shots, Etc.
"Capturing the Timeless Moments of Life"

On Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/faddephotography/

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12 years 7 months ago #135649 by steveheap
I always find Photomatix to be pretty complex, and I moved across to Nik HDR Efex Pro - may be worth trying a trial copy of that.

However, going back to the shot. I think this is a very passable first attempt, but looking at your source images, there isn't really enough range of exposures. In particular, I don't think there is an image that is light enough. I suspect you did three images that were one stop apart, whereas it would have been better to have done 3 or 5 that went at least 2 stops either side of the normal one. For a scene like this, perhaps even 3 stops as everything is quite dark.

Steve

My Stock Photo Blog
www.backyardsilver.com

The following user(s) said Thank You: Joiemagic
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12 years 7 months ago #135713 by Joiemagic
Yes, these were only 1 stop apart on eiother side... part of the problem was me using my ghetto tripod... to get more than three shots would have to adjust the bracket for a wider range, and in doing that would wind up moving the camera too much and the images might not alight up right..

I will keep that in mind, and I did read in the tutorial that it should be 2 stops apart... I think I did try that two stops apart in some of the pics I took... will see what I can do if I have that...

Thanks again for the suggestions though... It is appreciated....:cheers:

Joie Fadde
Fadde Photography / Sports Shots, Etc.
"Capturing the Timeless Moments of Life"

On Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/faddephotography/

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